Waterline

The Ministry of Health has released Order in Council (OIC) #167 which amends section 3.1 of the Drinking Water Protection Regulation. The amendment enables the use of non-potable water by all water supply systems in situations where it is safe and appropriate. This allows water systems to be exempt from Section 6 (potability) of the Drinking Water Protection Act (the Act), in situations where the water is only to be used for domestic purposes other than drinking or food preparation, and is unlikely to pose a health risk.

The federal government presented their 2013 budget last week with a commitment of $70 billion toward infrastructure in Canada. However, once broken down, there is very little 'new' funding available and nothing targeted specifically to water or wastewater. In addition to the infrastructure funding, the federal government is making a commitment to skills training that could certainly support our water and wastewater sector.

Education of water system operators is an essential component of BC’s source-to-tap approach to protecting drinking water and public health. Small water systems are often challenged by limited training opportunities due to small tax bases, rural locations, and lack of local training opportunities. To address this BCWWA has received $100,000 in grant funding from the BC Ministry of Environment to develop a program specific to the needs of small water systems. This program must be complete before December 31st 2013.